Regulatory Powers (Standard Provisions) Act 2014 (No. 93 of 2014).

This Act provides a set of standard provisions in relation to monitoring and investigation powers, as well as enforcement provisions through the use of civil penalties, infringement notices, enforceable undertakings and injunctions. It sets a framework for more consistently applying Commonwealth regulatory schemes in monitoring and investigation powers, civil penalty provisions, infringement notices, enforceable undertakings and injunctions. It is an Act of general application, and other (sector-specific) legislation is required to make its provisions actual law, which means that Commonwealth Acts need to be drafted or amended to trigger its provisions. However, the standard provisions of the Regulatory Powers Act represent best practice in relation to regulatory powers, providing a standard baseline of regulatory powers for civil regulatory regimes while protecting important common law privileges. New or amending Acts that require monitoring, investigation or enforcement powers of the kind available under the Regulatory Powers Act should be drafted to trigger the relevant provisions of that Act, unless there are compelling policy reasons to the contrary.
In detail, this Act creates a framework for each of the following: (a) monitoring whether provisions of an Act or a legislative instrument have been, or are being, complied with; (b) monitoring whether information given in compliance, or purported compliance, with a provision of an Act or a legislative instrument is correct; (c) gathering material that relates to the contravention of an offence provision or a civil penalty provision; (d) the use of civil penalties to enforce provisions; (e) the use of infringement notices where there is a reasonable belief that a provision has been contravened; (f) the acceptance and enforcement of undertakings relating to compliance with provisions; (g) the use of injunctions to enforce provisions.